Method and system for generating shipping labels

ABSTRACT

A system generates an encoded identifier representing shipping data associated with the first party, wherein the shipping data is associated with a transaction between the first party and a second party. The system then communicates the encoded identifier to the second party and the second party creates a shipping label including the encoded identifier. The encoded identifier is decoded by a shipping service provider thus providing the shipping data of the first party.

PRIORITY

This patent application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/642,222, filed on Dec. 20, 2006 which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to providing a seller in a network-basedshopping system with shipping data that preserves private informationassociated with a buyer.

BACKGROUND

Protecting personal data is of great concern, particularly with respectto network based transactions. This issue is particularly evident in theonline purchase of physical goods. People often attempt to protect theirpersonal data, such as their name, address, credit card data, etc., bypaying cash to avoid sharing credit card data and using secondary orfake email addresses to prevent receiving spam email. However, withphysical goods, unless a physical pick up is arranged, divulging of abuyer's name, and at the very least address, is a necessity that putsthe buyer's personal data at risk.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a transaction system, according toone embodiment, having a client-server architecture configured forexchanging data over a network;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of multipletransaction and publication applications which are provided as part ofthe network based publisher;

FIG. 3 is a high-level entity-relationship diagram, in accordance withan example embodiment, illustrating various tables that may bemaintained within the databases, and that may be utilized by and supportthe transaction and publication applications;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example embodiments of shipping application(s) andrespective modules to protect private data associated with users of thetransaction system;

FIG. 5 is illustrates a flowchart of example processes for a buyer, aseller, a network based publisher and a shipping service provider toutilize the transaction system to facilitate the buying and receiving ofitems with the transaction system; and

FIG. 6 shows a diagrammatic representation of machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificexample embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

In one embodiment, a system and method protects private data of a firstparty by generating an encoded identifier representing shipping dataassociated with the first party, wherein the shipping data is associatedwith a transaction between the first party and a second party. Theencoded identifier is then communicated to the second party and thesecond party creates a shipping label including the encoded identifier.The encoded identifier is then decoded by a shipping service providerthus providing the shipping data of the first party.

Platform Architecture

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a transaction system 100,according to one embodiment, having a client-server architectureconfigured for exchanging data over a network. The transaction system100 may be a publishing system where clients may communicate, view,search, and exchange data with the publishing system. For example, thetransaction system 100 may include various applications for interfacingwith client machines and client applications that may be used by users(e.g., buyers and sellers) of the system to publish items for sale inaddition to facilitating the purchase and shipment of items.

A data exchange platform, in an example form of a network basedpublisher 112, may provide server-side functionality, via a network 114(e.g., the Internet) to one or more clients. The one or more clients mayinclude users that utilize the network based publisher 112 as atransaction intermediary to facilitate the exchange data over thenetwork 114 corresponding to user transactions. User transactions mayinclude receiving and processing item and item related data and userdata from a multitude of users, such as payment data, shipping data,item review data, feedback data, etc. A transaction may also includeparty to party communications, such as a “first party” sending anencoded self-addressed postage-paid envelope to a second party toreceive some item or information (e.g., brochures), where the encodingand decoding may be managed by the network-based publisher 112. Atransaction intermediary such as the network based publisher 112 mayinclude one or all of the functions associated with a shipping servicebroker, payment service and other functions associated with transactionsbetween one or more parties. For simplicity, these functions arediscussed as being an integral part of the network based publisher 112,however it can be appreciated that these functions may be provided bytransaction systems remote from the network based publisher 112. Forexample, two transacting parties may utilize a third party shippingservice broker and/or third party payment service (e.g., third partyserver 140 described below) outside of the network based publisher 112.

In various embodiments, the data exchanges within the transaction system100 may be dependent upon user selected functions available through oneor more client/user interfaces (UIs). The UIs may be associated with aclient machine, such as a client machine 120 utilizing a web client 116.The web client 116 may be in communication with the network basedpublisher 112 via a web server 126. The UIs may also be associated witha client machine 122 utilizing a client application 118, or a thirdparty server 140 hosting a third party application 138. It can beappreciated in various embodiments the client machine 120, 122 may beassociated with a buyer, a seller, payment service provider or shippingservice provider, each in communication with the network based publisher112 and optionally each other. The buyers and sellers may be any one ofindividuals, merchants, etc.

Returning to FIG. 1, the network based publisher 112 may include dataexchange functions to collect shipping data from buyers and selectivelyprovide portions of that data to sellers and shipping service providers.In one embodiment, these functions allow a seller (e.g., a merchant) toreceive payment and shipping data from the network based publisher 112.The shipping data may include encoded data that may be printed andapplied to a shipping container (e.g., box, envelope, etc.) that isdecoded by a shipping service provider (e.g., Federal Express®, etc.) toreveal the buyers identity and shipping address.

Turning specifically to an embodiment of the network based publisher 112architecture, an application program interface (API) server 124 and aweb server 126 are coupled to and provide programmatic and webinterfaces respectively to one or more application servers 128. Theapplication servers 128 host one or more transaction applications 130and publication applications 132.

An application program interface (API) server 124 and a web server 126provide programmatic and web interfaces to one or more applicationservers 128. The application servers 128 may host one or more otherapplications, such as transaction applications 130 and publicationapplications 132. The application servers 128 may be coupled to one ormore data servers 134 that facilitate access to one or more storagedevices, such as the data storage 136.

The transaction applications 130 may provide a number of paymentprocessing modules to facilitate processing payment informationassociated with a buyer purchasing an item from a seller. Thepublication applications 132 may include various modules to provide anumber of publication functions and services to users that access thenetwork based publisher 112. For example, these services may include,inter alia, formatting and delivering search results to a client. Theshipping applications may include various modules to provide a number ofshipping functions and services to the buyer and seller alike. Forexample, offering of a shipping option to shield a buyer's identity byproviding the seller with an encoded shipping label for the itempurchased by the buyer.

FIG. 1 also illustrates an example embodiment of a third partyapplication 138, which may operate on a third party server 140 and haveprogrammatic access to the network based publisher 112 via theprogrammatic interface provided by the API server 124. For example, thethird party application 138 may utilize various types of data retrievedfrom the network based publisher 112 and support one or more features orfunctions normally performed at the network based publisher 112. Forexample, the third party application 138 may receive a copy of all or aportion of the data storage 136 that includes buyer shipping data andact as the transaction intermediary between the buyer and seller withrespect to functions such as shipping and payment functions.Additionally, in another embodiment, similar to the network basedpublisher 112, the third party application 138 may also include modulesto perform operations pertaining to payment, shipping, etc. In yetanother embodiment, the third party server 140 may collaborate with thenetwork based publisher 112 to facilitate transactions between buyersand sellers, such as by sharing data and functionality pertaining topayment and shipping, etc.

Applications

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of multipletransaction and publication applications 130, 132, respectively, whichare provided as part of the network based publisher 112. The networkbased publisher 112 may provide a number of shopping, listing andprice-setting, payment, shipping, and social networking mechanisms inwhich a seller may engage in item transactions, such as for goods orservices.

To this end, the transaction and publication a 130, 132 are shown toinclude one or more applications which support the network basedpublisher 112. Store applications 202 may allow sellers to group theirlistings (e.g., goods and/or services) within a “virtual” store, whichmay be branded and otherwise personalized by and for the sellers. Such avirtual store may also offer promotions, incentives and features thatare specific and personalized to a relevant seller. In one embodiment,the listings and/or transactions associated with the virtual store andits features may be provided to one or more community groups having anexisting relationship with the item list creator. An existingrelationship or association may include a friend or family relationship,a transactional relationship (e.g., prior sales with user), or anoverall network community relationship (e.g., buyers historicaltransaction rating).

Reputation applications 204 may allow parties that transact utilizingthe network based publisher 112 to establish, build and maintainreputations, which may be made available and published to potentialtrading partners. Consider that where, for example, the network basedpublisher 112 supports person-to-person trading, users may have nohistory or other reference information whereby the trustworthinessand/or credibility of potential trading partners may be assessed. Thereputation applications 204 may allow a user, for example throughfeedback provided by other transaction partners, to establish areputation within the network based publisher 112 over time. Otherpotential trading partners may then reference such a reputation for thepurposes of assessing credibility, trustworthiness, or the like. A usercreating a shared item list and seeking reviews and recommendationsassociated with the listed items may therefore rely, all or in part, onanother user's established credibility in determining whether or not toadd that person to their community group, which may access the shareditem list, and in some embodiments, make purchases based on the shareditem list.

Navigation of the network based publisher 112 may be facilitated by oneor more navigation applications 206. For example, a search applicationmay, inter alia, enable key word searches of listings published via thenetwork based publisher 112. A browser application may allow users viaan associated user interface to browse various category, catalogue,inventory, social network, and review data structures within the networkbased publisher 112. Various other navigation applications (e.g., anexternal search engine) may be provided to supplement the search andbrowsing applications.

A number of fraud prevention applications 208 may implement variousfraud detection and prevention mechanisms to reduce the occurrence offraud within the network based publisher 112. In one embodiment, thefraud prevention applications 208 may monitor activities of each user(e.g., buyers and sellers) with respect to various types of transactionson the network-based publisher 112. For example, a buyer may indicatenot receiving the item and the fraud prevention applications 208 maydetermine, based on shipping data (e.g., tracking and deliveryinformation) received from the shipper and/or the seller that the itempackage was delivered to the correct entity at the correct address. Invarious embodiments, the network-based publisher 112 may utilize thefraud prevention applications 208 in conjunction with dispute resolutionapplications 210 to generate a resolution acceptable to each party.

The dispute resolution applications 210 provide mechanisms wherebydisputes (e.g., a shipping dispute) arising between transacting partiesmay be resolved. For example, the dispute resolution applications 210may provide guided procedures whereby the parties are guided through anumber of steps in an attempt to settle a dispute. In the event that thedispute cannot be settled via the guided procedures, the dispute may beescalated to a third party mediator or arbitrator.

Messaging applications 212 may be used for the generation and deliveryof messages to users of the network based publisher 112, such messagesfor example advising the item list creator and members of the communitygroups associated with an item list the status of the various items onthe list (e.g., already purchased, etc.) In one embodiment, themessaging applications 212 may be used in conjunction with the socialnetworking applications 210 to provide promotional and/or marketing tothe community members associated with the item list to assist them infinding and purchasing items on the item list.

Payment applications 214 may provide a number of payment services andfunctions to users such as buyers and sellers of the network basedpublisher 112. The payment applications 214 may facilitate paymenttransactions between buyers and sellers by being an intermediary thatmay collect and distribute funds and securely handle seller and buyercurrency data such as credit card numbers, bank account and routingdata, etc. In another embodiment, the payment applications 214 allowusers to quantify for, and accumulate, value (e.g., in a commercialcurrency, such as the U.S. dollar, or a proprietary currency, such as“points”) in accounts, and then later to redeem the accumulated valuefor products (e.g., goods or services) that are made available via thetransaction and publication applications 130, 132. While the transactionand publication applications 130 and 132 are shown in FIG. 1 to bothform part of the network based publisher 112, it will be appreciatedthat, in alternative embodiments, the payment applications 214 may formpart of a payment service that is separate and distinct from the networkbased publisher 112 (e.g., via third party server 140).

The shipping applications 216 may provide a number of shipping andhandling services and functions to users of the network based publisher112. The functions may include collecting data from buyers, sellers, andshippers and selectively providing portions of the collected data backto the buyers, sellers and shippers. For example, a buyer may provide aname and shipping address to the network based publisher 112. In atransaction between the buyer and seller, the network based publisher112 may provide the seller with encoded shipping data and the shipperwith actual shipping data (e.g., buyer name and address) via a decodingscheme, thus shielding the buyer's personal/shipping data from theseller.

It will be appreciated that one or more the various example transactionand publication applications 130, 132 may be combined into a singleapplication. Further, in some embodiments of the inventions one or moreapplications may be omitted and additional applications may also beincluded.

Data Structures

FIG. 3 is a high-level entity-relationship diagram, in accordance withan example embodiment, illustrating various tables 302 that may bemaintained within the databases 136 (see FIG. 1), and that may beutilized by and support the transaction and publication applications 130and 132, respectively. A user table 304 may contain a record for eachregistered user of the network based publisher 112, and may include auser identifier (e.g., screen name), user name, user address, userfinancial instrument information (e.g., credit card, bank data, etc.),shipping preferences including preferred shipping service provider.

The tables 302 may also include an item list table 306 which maintainslisting or item records for goods and/or services that were created byan item list creator (e.g., seller/merchant) using the transaction andpublication applications 130, 132. Each listing or item record withinthe item list table 306 may furthermore be linked to one or more otherrecords such as the user table 304, a shipping table 308, and a merchanttable 310.

The shipping table 308 may include past, present, and future shippingrecords pertaining to items bought/sold and shipped via the networkbased publisher 112. The shipping table 308 may be associated with theuser table 304, the merchant table 310, a transaction table 312, and ashipper table 316.

The transaction table 312 may contain a record for each transactionpertaining to items or listings for which records exist within the itemstable 306. The transaction table 312 may be associated with the usertable 304, the shipping table 308, and the merchant table 310. Afeedback table 314 may be utilized by one or more of the reputationapplications 204 to construct and maintain reputation informationassociated with users of the network based publisher 112 (e.g., buyers,sellers, merchants, and shippers).

Processes

FIG. 4 illustrates an example embodiments of shipping application(s) 216and respective modules to protect private data associated with users ofthe transaction system 100. In one embodiment, the shippingapplication(s) 216 in FIG. 4 include a user data module 402, an encodermodule 404, a seller module 406, and a decoder module 408. The user datamodule 402 may be configured to work with the various components of thenetwork-based publisher 112 to receive and process user data. Forexample, a user using client machine 120 may interface with the webserver 126 through the network 114 to provide the network-basedpublisher 112 with associated user data. The user data may then be addedto the database (e.g., database 136) in one or more user data recordsand organized into tables such as the user table 304. The user data mayinclude, inter alia, a user name, a user alias (e.g., screen name), ashipping address, and various user preferences such as carrierpreference (e.g., FedEx®), shipping privacy preference and paymentpreference (e.g., credit card data, bank data, etc.).

The encoder module 404 may be configured to generate encoded data fromvarious portions of user data collected by the user data module 402. Inone embodiment, the encoder module 404 may interface with a sellermodule 406 and a decoder module 408 operating under the web client 116or the client application 118 as illustrated and described withreference to FIG. 1. For simplicity, hereinafter all referenced clientsin the various embodiments described being utilized by any one or all ofthe buyer, seller, and shipping service provider will be their ownrespective web clients 116 using the web server interface 126 of thenetwork-based publisher 112. However, it can be appreciated, asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 1, that the buyer, seller orshipping service provider may also use a stand-alone client applicationsuch as the client application 118 of the client machine 122, which mayinclude all or a portion of the functionality described with referenceto the shipping application(s) 216.

In one embodiment, after a transaction has concluded between a buyer anda seller in the transaction system 100, the encoder module 404 extractsdata from the buyer's user data record and encodes at least a portion ofthe data to create an encoded identifier that is communicated to theseller module 406 and the decoder module 408. For example, the encodermodule 404 may extract the shipping address, the name, and preferencesof the buyer and encode only the shipping address and the name. Theencoded data along with any additional non-private non-encoded data(e.g., shipping preferences, etc.) may then be communicated to theseller using a client machine (e.g., the client machine 120).Alternatively, the encoder module 404 may encode all of the buyer's data(private and non-private) to be communicated to the shipping serviceprovider in creating the encoded identifier.

In one embodiment, the encoder module 404 encodes the data by creating abarcode from the buyer's shipping address and name. In anotherembodiment, the encoder module 404 may use a key (e.g., cryptographickey, public/private, etc.) that is used by the shipping service providerto decode the received encoded identifier. In yet another embodiment, aunique encoded identifier may be created for each user (e.g., buyers)including a unique key which may be used by the shipping serviceprovider to obtain a user's shipping data.

In one embodiment, the transaction system may use a multi-use encodingscheme wherein a first party may use the same encoded addressinformation with multiple second parties. For example, a multi-useencoder may be used and decoded to receive one or more mailings atvarious times from a second party. It can be appreciated in variousother embodiments that a multitude of encoding schemes may be applied toany or all of the communicated data (e.g., private and non-private data)without departing from the spirit and scope of the methods describedherein.

After the seller module 406 has received the data including the encodeddata from the encoder module 404, the seller module 406 may determineadditional shipping preferences based on the received user data (e.g.,carrier preference) and generate the encoded shipping label to includeon one or more shipping packages associated with the transaction betweenthe buyer and seller. The encoded shipping label may be affixed to eachpackage that in turn is processed by the shipping service provider.

In one embodiment, the shipping service provider receives the packageincluding the encoded shipping label. The service provider then uses itsweb client (e.g., web client 116) to login into the network-basedpublisher 112 to process the encoded shipping label. Specifically, adecoder module may be utilized to decode the encoded shipping label todetermine the buyer's shipping data, such as the buyer's name andphysical shipping address. The shipping service provider may thengenerate a new shipping label to apply to each package. In variousembodiments, the encoded data may be entered in the server providersystem by any entry method known in the art, such as manual entry,scanner (e.g., barcode optical scanner/reader), RFID (radio frequencyidentification) tag and receiver, etc.

In various embodiments, the user shipping data may be directly encodedin the encoded shipping label or may be an identifier that may becommunicated back to the network-based publisher 112 that in turnretrieves and communicates the user shipping data to the shippingservice provider.

FIG. 5 is illustrates a flowchart 500 of example processes for a buyer,a seller, a network based publisher and a shipping service provider toutilize the transaction system 100 to facilitate the buying andreceiving of items with the transaction system 100. The process beginsat operation 502 where the buyer via a client machine (e.g., clientmachine 120, 122) initially provides the network-based publisher 112 theuser data, including user shipping data. For example, this may includesuch data as user name, screen name, shipping address, shippingpreferences, payment data, etc. At operation 504, the network-basedpublisher 112 creates a user record to store in the database 136.

At operation 506, the seller provides seller data to the network-basedpublisher 112. The seller data may include, but is not limited to,seller name, address, phone number, item lists, payment options, carrieroptions, etc. The network-based publisher 112, at operation 508, maythen create a seller record to be stored in the database 136.

The buyer, at operation 510, enters into a transaction with the seller,and the seller with into the transaction with the buyer at operation512. The transaction is facilitated at operation 514 by thenetwork-based publisher 112. At operation 516, the buyer provides thenetwork-based publisher 112 with payment data and additional selectedoption data, if any. In response, the network-based publisher 112provides, at operation 518, the seller with select user data includingdata encoded by the network-based publisher 112 pertaining to the usershipping data. Based the received user data from the network-basedpublisher 112, the seller, at operation 520, creates an encoded shippinglabel (e.g., barcode label) to affix to a package associated with thetransaction and processes any user selected options provided with theuser data. For example, a user option may indicate the user prefersusing the United States Postal Service over other carriers andspecifically, a two day ground option.

At operation 522, the shipping service provider received the packageincluding the encoded shipping label and decodes the shipping label todetermine the user shipping data (e.g., name and physical shippingaddress). As discussed above, the encoded label may be decoded and theuser shipping data retrieved locally, communicated to and decoded by thenetwork-based publisher 112, or any combination thereof.

The shipping service provider, at operation 524, then creates a newshipping label including physical shipping address of the buyer andships package. Additionally, the shipping service provider may also, atoperations 526, 528, and 530, generate and communicate a shipmentnotification message to the network-based publisher 112 and the buyer.At operation 532, the shipping service provider communicates aconfidential shipping notification to the seller and the seller receivesthe notification at operation 534. For example, the confidentialshipping notification may only identify the buyer by a transaction orbuyer identifier that does not include the shipping data (e.g., name,address, etc.). Lastly, at operation 536, the buyer receives thepackage.

FIG. 6 shows a diagrammatic representation of machine in the exampleform of a computer system 600 within which a set of instructions may beexecuted causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein. In alternative embodiments, the machineoperates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) toother machines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate inthe capacity of a server or a client machine in server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), atablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), acellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 600 includes a processor 602 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, which communicate witheach other via a bus 608. The computer system 600 may further include avideo display unit 610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or acathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 600 also includes analphanumeric input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), a user interface (UI)navigation device 614 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 616, a signalgeneration device 618 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device620.

The disk drive unit 616 includes a machine-readable medium 622 on whichis stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g.,software 624) embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The software 624 may alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604and/or within the processor 602 during execution thereof by the computersystem 600, the main memory 604 and the processor 602 also constitutingmachine-readable media.

The software 624 may further be transmitted or received over a network626 via the network interface device 620 utilizing any one of a numberof well-known transfer protocols (e.g., HTTP).

While the machine-readable medium 622 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present invention, or that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with sucha set of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shallaccordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-statememories, optical and magnetic media, and carrier wave signals.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin example embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Furthermore, the following claims arehereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate embodiment.

1. A method, including: generating an encoded identifier representingshipping data associated with a first party, the shipping data beingassociated with a transaction between the first party and a secondparty; and communicating the encoded identifier to the second party tocreate a shipping label data file including the encoded identifier that,when decoded by a shipping service provider, provides a shipping labelbased upon the shipping data of the first party.